CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The
statewide average precipitation for May was 4.52 inches, just 0.08 inches below
normal. However, heavy rains struck parts of Illinois, causing flooding. Some
areas received up to 10 inches of precipitation by the end of the month, according
to Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel at the Illinois State Water Survey,
University of Illinois.

Areas
from Chicago westward, most of far southern Illinois, and McLean County
received 5 to 9 inches of precipitation. A few locations received more
than 9 inches, including Countryside (Cook County) with 10.56 inches, West
Aurora with 9.32 inches, and Aurora with 9.27 inches.

The
average temperature in Illinois for May was 62.2 degrees, just 0.5 degrees
below normal. This breaks an eight-month streak of above-normal temperatures in
Illinois. Underneath the benign numbers were some stretches of cold weather at
the beginning and middle of the month before summer-like conditions arrived in
the last 10 days of the month. In the end, the warm and cold weather canceled
each other out.

The
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center
reported five tornadoes in Illinois in May, as well as 35 hail and 86 wind
damage reports.

The Illinois State Water Survey
at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a division of the Prairie
Research Institute, is the primary agency in Illinois concerned with water and
atmospheric resources.